New system for new academy

[mcloum]

Hi folks,

 

Ok so i've been procrastinating over this but it getting close and i really should start planning my summer.

 

Ok we are an academy in september and have been given 4 new servers and a load of other new infrastructure, not 100% on the specs yet as they are still being quoted and finalised. Im having to transfer the current data across to the new servers ready for september (there is a lot of it!!)

 

The long and short of it is i will be rebuilding the entire network in a 2003 environment. But its been years since i've setup a domain and im sure there have been advances in the way of best practices but im at a loss as to where to start.

 

Its been suggested that we move to a single domain model?? Good idea, bad idea?

How would people setup shares to limit the amount of junk that is stored on the system, at the moment we have lots of junk and obselete data stored, huge video files and lots of mp3s that "all needed for the classroom resources!"

 

[rh91uk]

Hi mcloum,

 

 

The long and short of it is i will be rebuilding the entire network in a 2003 environment.

 

What are you using now? Why not ask them for 2k8? just out of pure interest.

 

But its been years since i've setup a domain and im sure there have been advances in the way of best practices but im at a loss as to where to start.

 

The way I would do it is personally I would firstly just set up the domain, installing AD etc etc. Then, I would set up an XP (or Vista, whatever your using) testbench/test VM and join this to the domain. I'd then create some Organisational Unit's where you can put computers in and apply Group Policy objects to. You can also set up extra OU's and have one for Y7, y8, Teachers etc.

 

Group Policy Objects is what would really lock down your network. If you do not know much about GPOs, i'd search on here for Vanilla and see where other people in your situation have gone to.

 

Its been suggested that we move to a single domain model?? Good idea, bad idea?

 

Can be a good idea - would cause less confusion. You shouldn't need two domains as you should be able to control everything using group policy objects linking to different OU's.

How would people setup shares to limit the amount of junk that is stored on the system, at the moment we have lots of junk and obselete data stored, huge video files and lots of mp3s that "all needed for the classroom resources!"

By giving everyone particular quotas - you can do this in r2 very well - Manage disk quotas on Windows server : TechGuides : Windows Server : ZDNet Asia was always very useful to me.

 

There are a lot of resources in GPO's - I brought a book personally but you can probably grab some content off the net.

 

Do PM me if you want any more advice - sorry if this is mixed up/jumbled up - i'm not very good at explaining things.

 

RH

[localzuk]

I would recommend going with Server 2008, rather than 2003 - especially if you go down the single domain route (which I would also recommend) as it would allow you to have different password policies for different OUs.

 

On the moving of data. I would make it department specific for shared areas. And make the legacy info read only on another share - so people have to move stuff to the right location themselves.

 

Make use of quotas and filetype filtering too, to prevent things like mp3 stores from appearing.

[mcloum]

I know about GPos so its not like im totally new to this, sorry if that sounds high and mighty its not intended.

 

The one thing i do want to get right from the start is the AD design and naming convention for the users, at the moment we have approx 940 pupils and we use their names as their username but this is starting to cause problems due to inbreeding! So im thinking something sequential and part of their lastname maybe date of birth+lastname?

[Domino]

erm..okay?

 

What about the rest of the advice there? what are your reasons for deciding to go 2k3?

 

Personally I'd recommend the 2k8 route as well, especially if its a complete network rebuild - and it'd make the single domain much nicer to work with

[DrPerceptron]

+1 more for 2k8 (and I'm not using it properly yet!) it definately makes lots of things easier.

 

My opinion on usernames is something easy for staff (jbloggs) and something mostly unique, but easy for kiddly winks... we use YY

 

although, using 3 from their surname will definately help you with uniqueness - helps staff find kids themselves.

[rh91uk]

One thing I will ask out of interest are you virtualising or just on a server = server basis?

[Oops_my_bad]

If it's a new academy maybe the OP has had 2k3 forced on them? But if not.. would seriously consider 2008

 

As for usernames, we just use the 6 digit admission numbers for kids and staff codes for staff (all generated by SIMS)

[artsaudi]

If SMT are forcing 2k3 then I suggest start with R2 coz it has the disk quota capabilities but I will recommend 2k8 if possible. If you have load of data to start with then perhaps you have to consider expansion drives or a SAN or NAS. Today, students and staff data includes all multimedia which can grow fast. In our school every end of term we ask staff and students to move all mutlimedia files from their home drives to any external drives.

 

Single domain is a good idea since it's easy to manage and control. Just setup different OUs for users and computers. I suggest a different OU staff, perhaps by department and for every Year group for students and create/attach GPO's on each. Also create GPOs for computers.

 

For usernames, I suggest using or vice versa for staff. For students usernames, there is a big discussion on that, so I leave it to you to decide. Just make sure you don't have to create student usernames every year when they move up.

[GrumbleDook]

If possible, use a username that is pretty anonymous. It can then also be their email address and means that they are not identifiable by name, age or form ... good for the eSafety conscious.

 

How about using their admission number. Used that previously in other schools.